Bizarre, because Benitez, despite his successes at Valencia and Liverpool, and despite him being a lifelong Real man, was completely ill-suited to the demands of the most spoilt fans on earth, who believe they have a right to win everything, in style, every year. Even though they’ve only finished first in a mostly two-horse Spanish title race three times in the past 13 seasons.

Bizarre, because he surely knew, even if he brought in better results than expected (and a 68 per cent win rate wasn’t bad) it would never have been enough, playing the guarded way he plays, demanding the control he demands, to satisfy the Great Insatiables.

Dream come true: But Carlo Ancelotti was axed a year after delivering 'La Decima' (Photo: Getty)

You wonder what possessed the great arch-strategist to take over a squad too old, too egocentric, too indulged by a duplicitous, blame-deflecting owner who would not face the truth that a serious re-build was needed. Especially when Benitez knew he wasn’t Florentino Perez’s first choice.

Observers say the writing was on the wall in November, when Barcelona hammered Benitez’s side (a line-up allegedly suggested to him by Perez) and the president went into familiar self-preservation mode by publicly backing his manager while privately telling key listeners he was finished.

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The Madrid media are calling Zidane “The Chosen One”. Good luck with that, as David Moyes might say. The only thing Real’s president ultimately chooses with his managers is when to brief against them when results go wrong.

Still, there is one hope to cling to.

If El Presidente starts to whisper detrimental comments about Zidane, his track record suggests he may use his head and do something to Perez that many in football have been praying to see for years.

The same thing he did to Marco Materazzi.

Nutter: Zidane's infamous headbutt saw him sent off in the 2006 World Cup final (Photo: LCI/AFP/Getty)